Dai Sugi

It's no secret that I'm slightly obsessed with dai sugi - the weird semi-coppiced Cryptomeria they grow around Kyoto. Here, to welcome the New Year, is a little restaurant we passed while exploring temples in the hills to the south of Kyoto last autumn.

Even by my standards, this is pretty extreme. Sugi are mountain trees, and dai sugi are often planted in groves to suggest a feel of the mountains, but to get this many so close together is quite unusual. They've just had their autumn prune, by the looks of things, so look as tall and skinny as they ever do.